"The weather trough came in a couple of hours earlier than I expected it and that was looking at all the weather models.

"Sitting there punching into it at two knots instead of the usual eight knots meant I wouldn't get there until three or four in the morning," Mr Smith said.

BOM said the dangerous surf conditions would likely affect Fraser Island and the coast north of Bargara from Thursday afternoon and evening and the remaining south-east Queensland coast and northern New South Wales overnight into Friday.

Since the airing of the gut-wrenching documentary Leaving Neverland, many of us have wrestled with an uncomfortable, yet essential question: given everything we know, can we continue listening to Michael Jackson's music?